relations committee and the policies of this country. but most importantly of all, on those tough, tough issues, like the ratification of the new start treaty, secretary kerry -- now secretary kerry, then chairman kerry, made sure that every member of the committee, in the entire markup and hearing process, had their questioned answered, their concerns answered, and was a part of the process. he never tried to ramrod anything through the committee nor through the congress but, rather, did his job in an exemplary way. so it's a privilege for me to rise tonight to pay tribute to john kerry, the next secretary of state of the united states of america and commend him on his confirmation to that job. and i yield back and note the absence -- and i yield back. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> one can't count the times that americans favor the best country in the world. what a marvelously thing to say. of all the countries in the world, everybody thinks their countries pretty good. why do